Native American
 

Recent painting . Oil 24X24.

This is a beautifully designed piece and with a few tweaks could be a real winner.

The subject is so graphic and bold, I would like to see some simpler handling of the planes of the face.
The red reflection under his chin is too bright. Simplify and tone down the area from his cheek bone to his chin. The cheek area going into the mouth seems to come forward too much. I think you could design and simplify the frown marks on his forehead as well. Squint at your reference to see what I mean.

Strengthening and simplifying these areas will give the face an added heroic dimension to go with the very effective overall design.

Great piece!

Sharon,

I really appreciate the input. Looking at it - I agree - I went a too far with the red in the reflection - I will also try simplifying the planes of the face . I was worried that the costume would overpower the face (so I tried to overemphasize shadows and colors in the face) - but what you suggest may be the answer to the problem I have been struggling with. Thanks!!

This is stunning, Jane. I admire the way you've made the costume so bold, yet balanced it by the almost carved nature of his face, the fuzziness of the feathers, and the soft trees in the background. The different textures are juxtaposed beautifully. I agree that the red reflection could be softened a bit but otherwise I really like it as is. It also manages to offer a fresh vision of a Native American, which is very appealing.

Hi Jane,

I love this composition - the spiky dark feathers are so commanding, and I always like the way you've handled your paint in a sure and direct method.

Like you, I am very tempted by color reflections in bright sunlight on the unlit side of the face. To me, it's the
best reason to paint under outdoor lighting conditions. I'll bet the color on his face was this intense in reality. If you can keep it in the same value range as the rest of the unlit side of the face, I say, push it!

You're starting to remind me of Ron Riddick's work. If you've never visited his "Native American" page on his website it would be very interesting to you. I love the way he handles outdoor color in bright sunlight conditions.

Leslie -Thanks very much. I was really struck with this boy - we happened to be seeking shade behind the stands near his family at a pow wow, and with my trusty sony grabbed some pictures of him. His face was wonderful, sweet, and showed the intensity he was feeling - I also caught him sleeping , looking like a little boy, exhausted, with his feathers on his lap. I will definitely paint that picture some day

Linda,
Thanks so much for telling me about Ron Riddick's work. I LOVE his colors - I will definitely study this guy. I am going to desaturate this in photoshop and see if I am missing on the value in the red reflection - I already checked out backing off on the intensity of the reflection in photoshop and it seemed to work pretty well, but I noticed that it seemed a little light - that may be the problem. Thanks again for your input!!